


Candy Hearts

by PeachChapstick



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Internalized Homophobia, LGBTQ Character, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, No Smut, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:47:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachChapstick/pseuds/PeachChapstick
Summary: Delicate, yet hard. How could something be delicate, yet hard? It was an oxymoron, it couldn’t exist. Yet it did exist. It existed in the form of Steve Rogers.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Candy Hearts

Delicate, yet hard. How could something be delicate, yet hard? It was an oxymoron, it couldn’t exist. Yet it did exist. It existed in the form of Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers seemed like he had it all: stellar grades, a starting varsity spot on the basketball team, and a smile that could charm the pants off of any girl he wanted. The issue was, Steve didn’t want to charm the pants off of any girl. He wanted to charm the pants off of any guy. Well, not just any guy, one guy in particular. His middle school best friend, Bucky Barnes.

Bucky Barnes was the only openly gay person Steve knew. Steve was immensely jealous of his ability to just be himself, regardless of what anyone had to say. And people did have a lot to say. Steve’s own friends had a lot to say. That’s why Bucky was Steve’s middle school best friend and not his current best friend. Steve saw Bucky every morning in first period English, sitting in the back and never raising his hand even though he always knew the answers. As authentically himself as he was, he still had a hard time speaking up around the close-minded people who had practically bullied him.

Steve knew that he had to do something about the Bucky situation. He couldn’t live his life giving him longing glances across the cafeteria anymore. It was killing Steve to not be able to express that side of himself. Steve was a Cancer at heart, but he was beginning to feel like a Gemini. The level of masking himself and remaining emotionless was killing him. The amount of times he had to watch the people he considered his friends taunting the boy he was so madly in love with was sickening. Freshman year, he had watched his friends beat Bucky up pretty severely in the gym after school, unable to intervene. Steve had taken the next two weeks off of school as he felt physically ill anytime he saw Bucky or his friends after that. Yet somehow Bucky remained at school, still openly gay. But Steve had to keep up that hard exterior.

Due to his sexuality, there were some things Steve just preferred to not partake in. Things that felt painfully heteronormative. School dances, parties, poetry units in English, and, of course, Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day was the one day a year where straight couples could buy each other overpriced chocolate and post appreciation posts for each other all over Instagram. No, wait. That wasn’t right. Straight couples could do that any day of the year. But Steve couldn’t even make eye contact with Bucky for more than three seconds without getting eaten alive. Yay for homophobia.

For once in his life, Steve wanted to make his Valentine’s Day special. He didn’t want to just eat a box of half-off chocolate the day after like he had for the past sixteen years. This year it was going to be different. This year he would make a move on Bucky. Steve didn’t really know if Bucky would be romantically interested in him, but he had to take a shot. The plan was simple: Steve would buy Bucky a little box of chocolates and give it to him at his locker before English started. It would be simple and he could always pass it off as platonic if it backfired.

Friday morning, Steve got to school extra early. He needed to make sure he caught Bucky at his locker. He was circling around the hallways, waiting for Bucky to arrive and probably looking extremely suspicious. It was a good thing he was the golden boy of the school. Low and behold, Bucky showed up fifteen minutes before first period began.

Bucky had beautiful chestnut hair that he usually wore down, but today it was swept up in a casual yet attractive bun. He always loved to dress for a theme, so he was wearing a pink tank top with a sheer long-sleeved shirt on top that was scattered with little red, velvet hearts.He went with the brave choice of white jeans, something Steve had seen few attempt and even fewer pull off. But what really pulled it all together, in Steve’s opinion, was the pink belt with a heart buckle. Somehow Bucky had combined a bunch of statement pieces and made it work.

Steve walked over to Bucky as casually as he could manage while simultaneously feeling like he was going to have a heart attack and shit his pants. Bucky gave him a questioning glance over, making Steve blush.

“And what did I do to receive the honor of being spoken to by Steve Rogers on this fine afternoon?” Bucky asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm and resentment.

Fuck. Steve hadn’t even considered the possibility that Bucky was upset over the fact that Steve just stood back and allowed his friends to torment him all those years. It seemed like he should abort the mission, but redirecting the Titanic was ultimately what led it to sink.

“Um, it’s Valentine’s Day,” Steve stammered, still blushing and feeling like a complete idiot.

Bucky leaned against his locker, visibly amused. “Well, actually it’s on Sunday, but close enough I guess.”

Without saying a word, Steve thrust the little box of chocolates into Bucky’s hands and turned to walk away. He didn’t want to embarrass himself any further.

“Wait, Steve,” he heard Bucky call from behind him. “Is this for me?”

“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal. I just thought you might like it,” Steve said.

The hallway was empty other than the two of them, but Steve was still extremely paranoid that someone would overhear the conversation. He wasn’t ready to come out just yet.

“I do like it. Thank you,” Bucky said. “You know, I really don’t hate you. I’m sorry if I was being a little bit of a dick earlier.”

“It’s fine, you have every right to hate me,” Steve stated. And he truly meant it. He hadn’t been exceptionally nice to Bucky. He’d never stopped his friends from tormenting him: not even once.

“But I don’t. Are you doing anything after school? Maybe we could hang out,” Bucky invited.

“Yeah, I would like that.”

Just a few words seemed to make a tremendous difference in Steve’s life. Suddenly everything felt clearer. He still had to hide himself, yes, but not from everyone. He had Bucky he could trust now. Even if it wasn’t much, that small interaction lifted a huge weight from Steve’s shoulders. Just like that, his hard exterior was starting to melt away and reveal his soft and sweet insides. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed this quick one-shot I whipped up! If you did, please consider reading my other one-shots and my series. With the new semester having just begun, I am unsure when the next installment of the Avengers En Pointe will debut, but it will come eventually. I am considering starting a Twitter to post updates on my fics, but I'm not sure if anyone would be interested. Please let me know if you are. Regardless, I really enjoyed this one-shot and feel as though I could write an entire story in this universe. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


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